{"id":793545,"date":"2026-03-05T10:57:18","date_gmt":"2026-03-05T10:57:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/793545\/"},"modified":"2026-03-05T10:57:18","modified_gmt":"2026-03-05T10:57:18","slug":"browns-beat-writer-expects-cleveland-to-pursue-external-qb-options-like-malik-willis","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/793545\/","title":{"rendered":"Browns Beat Writer Expects Cleveland To Pursue External QB Options Like Malik Willis"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Browns return Shedeur Sanders and Deshaun Watson at quarterback, but will either be their starter under HC Todd Monken<\/a>? Monken declined to commit<\/a> to entering this offseason operating with Sanders as the presumptive starter. Watson is coming off a major Achilles injury, and also kind of sucks. But there all alternatives, and beat writer Zac Jackson anticipates Cleveland will pursue them. Writing for The Athletic<\/a>:<\/p>\n

The Browns are open to multiple options at quarterback, and that certainly includes the \u201copen competition\u201d that new coach Todd Monken referenced during his combine media availability. But it\u2019s clear that the team won\u2019t just have Shedeur Sanders and Deshaun Watson in that competition. Watson hasn\u2019t played since October 2024 and is entering the last year of his huge contract, and the team still believes Sanders has a long way to go. Expect the Browns to at least explore a run at Malik Willis in free agency or to seriously consider a trade for Anthony Richardson that would pit Sanders vs. Richardson in a competition for the starting job while the team\u2019s longer-term plans remain open.<\/p>\n

The Colts have already agreed to allow Anthony Richardson to seek a trade, and he likely wouldn\u2019t cost very much. The Browns have Deshaun Watson and Shedeur Sanders, but they also have 10 draft picks<\/a>. That includes two in the first round and three in the fifth round, so they have ammunition to move around.<\/p>\n

As for Malik Willis, he is projected to be the biggest name on the quarterback market, especially after the Colts placed the transition tag on Daniel Jones. But would he fit with what Todd Monken wants to do in Cleveland? He knows the Browns don\u2019t have Lamar Jackson, of course, though, and Willis is more similar to Sanders and Watson.<\/p>\n

The Browns traded for Watson in 2022 to disastrous effect, later drafting Sanders last year. Before drafting Sanders in the fifth round, they took another quarterback, Dillon Gabriel, in the third. Despite starting before Sanders, however, Gabriel hasn\u2019t even been a part of this discussion.<\/p>\n

Deshaun Watson has hardly been part of the discussion, either. The former Pro Bowler tore his Achilles in 2024, and then tore it a second time as he rehabbed. He missed the entire 2025 season<\/a>, but the Browns believe he is healthy now.<\/p>\n

At the end of last season, the Browns opted to let Shedeur Sanders play out the season to see what they have in him. Unless they try to try up to the top spot to draft Fernando Mendoza, though, they won\u2019t find an answer in the draft. It\u2019s hard to believe they would settle on Sanders and Watson as their only options. But while considering Willis and others, they also have to consider the state of their offensive line.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Browns return Shedeur Sanders and Deshaun Watson at quarterback, but will either be their starter under HC…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":793546,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2054],"tags":[86,85,54,2337,563,7,4097,6,17,19982],"class_list":["post-793545","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-cleveland-browns","tag-browns","tag-cleveland","tag-cleveland-browns","tag-clevelandbrowns","tag-deshaun-watson","tag-football","tag-malik-willis","tag-nfl","tag-shedeur-sanders","tag-zac-jackson"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/116176214180260188","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/793545","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=793545"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/793545\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/793546"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=793545"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=793545"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=793545"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}